In cosmetics, silicone surfactants modified with glycerol or polyglycerol typically have an excellent performance in terms of moisturizing properties, but are known to have a tendency to produce a sticky feel on the skin.
Also, metal oxide powders such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide improve transparency and increase the ultraviolet-blocking effect, and so finely divided metal oxide powders having an average particle size of 100 nm or less are widely used in sunscreen cosmetics. However, the larger surface area of finely divided metal oxide powders increases bonding forces between particles, as a result of which such powders tend to readily agglomerate. Hence, when these finely divided metal oxide powders are used in sunscreen cosmetics, their ability to be stably included without agglomerating is important. Generally, in cosmetics, art for enhancing the stability of formulations by including glycerol-modified silicone surfactants (Patent Document 2) and art for enhancing the stability of formulations by the combined use of a glycerol-modified silicone surfactant and trimethylsiloxysilicic acid (Patent Document 3) is known. However, the glycerol-modified silicones used here have a large molecular weight, and have been inadequate for enhancing the stability of formulations.